The Technomancer Combat Styles Guide&colon; Which One Should You Play&quest;

Each of the Technomancer combat styles definitely has its own flavor. The nice thing is that you can easily switch back and forth, and start the game with every style and a weapon set for each.

But which one is for you? Hopefully by the time you get done reading this article, you'll have a good idea. But whether you decide to go Warrior or Rogue, Technomancer or Guardian, I'll leave you with a few tips on how to play each one.

Technomancer Combat Style #1: Technomancy

One thing I find interesting is that none of the trailers or informational videos about the game really highlighted this as a combat style. But considering it has its own line of abilities and affects combat dramatically, I thought I'd throw this in.

Technomancy is essentially what makes you different from most other characters in the game. It's kind of like the game's "magic," and the powers it provides are helpful in almost all situations.

For example, it's one of the only ways you can really use ranged combat. The other way is with the pistol used by the Rogue skill trees, but it's not really meant to be used as a major source of damage.

Technomancy also provides you utility by electrifying your weapon or creating a shield around yourself. Both are useful, but the only downside is they take up a whole fluid charge, preventing you from casting as many damaging spells (like Electric Arcs.)

Here's a quick link for more information on the Technomancer abilities, where I also discuss a few build ideas.

I want to go over what I like about this combat style, along with the drawbacks.

Pros

Sustained abilities like Electric Weapon and Magnetic Shield. Not having to worry about using abilities mid-fight is convenient, as I can just focus on the melee.

Lightning arcs are a nice way to take out enemies -- especially weak monsters -- from far away. It also gives a little AoE to assist styles (like Rogue) that don't have much AoE to speak of.

Your electricity can stun baddies, letting you get some free hits in or giving you some breather room to use an injection.

Augments all 3 of the other styles, so there's no reason not to invest at least a few points here.

Cons

Some abilities take a second to activate. If you're getting shot at or have an enemy in your face, you may not be able to finish it before getting disrupted.

Electric Arcs does decent damage, but it's not amazing. Most of your damage will come from melee.

You can't use these abilities very much unless you invest in additional fluid charges, which is several skill points up the tree.

Technomancer Combat Style #2: Warrior

Of the three weapon sets and combat styles, this is my favorite. The Warrior style is amazing at taking out groups of enemies, and your kick is a great disruptor. Considering your enemies do a lot of damage to you, plan on kicking a lot of enemies in the face as they're swinging at you.

The Warrior style is the traditional style for Technomancers -- probably because they seem to be outnumbered all the time? I feel like the only time I'm fighting just 1 enemy is when going against a boss.

The AoE damage is awesome, especially when you're surrounded by enemies. Combine it with an Electric Weapon, and you're talking serious damage and you can take a group of enemies down quickly.

Here's the rundown of pros and cons:

Pros

Attack multiple enemies at once. Great for escaping a trap or saving teammates who got themselves surrounded.

Lets you maximize Electric Weapon. Hitting multiple enemies at once with a charged weapon is no joke.

Disrupting enemy attacks is critical in this game, and this style's kick does a great job of it.

You can move across the battlefield quickly with your R2 (area attack) and do tons of damage at the same time.

Cons

You aren't as beefy as a Guardian and can't dodge damage as well as a Rogue. In other words -- your defenses just aren't great.

Controlling the battlefield -- besides your kick -- isn't great either. Sure, you can attack lots of enemies at once, but you don't have the gun-stun like the Rogue or parry/block of Guardians.

Again, I think this is my favorite style since it seems like your companions have the AI of a stump (meaning you can't count on them for much damage) and you'll usually be outnumbered in fights.

But let's move on.

Technomancer Combat Style #3: Guardian

If you're a sword-and-board kinda player, this is for you. Sure, it doesn't give you as much offensive ability as the other styles, but the shield is great for blocking attacks and shots, giving you great sustainability.

...it's also fun for doing THIS.

Some of the abilities in this tree can cause AoE damage, but for the most part you'll be smashing one enemy at a time. You'll do a lot of hiding behind your shield, and then either parry enemy attacks or immediately respond to their attacks with one of your own.

This style probably shines the best against enemies with powerful ranged attacks. An automatic rifle can take you down extremely fast, so having that shield up to block means you don't have to worry about dodging at just the right second.

Here are the pros and cons I've found with this style:

Pros

It doesn't seem like you take damage if you block with the shield. 100% damage reduction and the ability to block projectiles? That's a winner.

The Attribute point associated with Guardians is Constitution. Considering this gives you more carry capacity and health, it's probably the only Attribute that every player should invest at least a few points in.

Provides the best survivability in the game. And considering most enemies hit as hard as a truck, it's easy to see why this is an attractive stance.

Cons

The problem with playing this defensive style is that you just don't do as much damage. Expect longer fights than with the other styles.

Again, your companions just don't have the greatest AI in the world. If you're hiding behind a shield hoping they take the enemies out while you tank, you're gonna be waiting for a long time.

You feel bulky -- almost like Gears of War bulky. If you like playing a heavy, tanky character in games like Dark Souls, then you're probably fine with that. But I like to jump or roll around a bit more.

Finally, let's talk about the gunslinger.

Technomancer Combat Style #4: Rogue

...no. Not that kinda Rogue.

This knife-wielding-gun-slinging style is kinda Bloodborne-ish. Your pistol does decent damage, but it's mainly there to help stun/disrupt enemies. Then you follow it up with a few slices with your knife and watch the bad guy drop.

One thing to keep in mind with Rogue is that you'll be doing a lot of rolling. You don't have the AoE of a Warrior to disrupt/attack multiple enemies at once, and you can't block several incoming attacks like a Guardian can. So you'll constantly be rolling out of the way to re-position yourself so you can fight just one enemy at a time.

This style is unique because it allows you to poison. If you decide to put a few points into this part of the skill tree, your strategy will be something like this:

Engage enemy A, attacking enough to poison them.

Move on to engage enemy B and poison them.

Re-engage enemy A (since the poison has been damaging them) and finish them up.)

You can also go another route and focus on critical hits. Your higher crit chance is what will allow you to take a single enemy down faster than the other two styles.

To sum it up, here's the good and the bad.

Pros

Provides the best dodging ability of the combat styles.

The gun is the only way of doing ranged damage (besides Technomancy)

Poison!

Quickly dispatches single enemies.

Cons

If you get surrounded, you have to roll away and re-position yourself. You can't engage more than one enemy at a time very well.

Timing the gun's disruptive shot takes practice. If you wait just a split second too late, you're gonna get an enemy club/claw/fist in your face.

Poison is nice, but it takes time to maximize the damage output.

Conclusion

When you first start playing, experiment with each of the Technomancer combat styles. If you're like me, you'll find yourself playing most of the game with just 1-2, even though each has its advantages and disadvantages.